"Crown" at McDonald's

A look inside the fast food kitchen after “moldy burger”

The McDonald's restaurant was criticized. Now they are showing the processes and quality standards.(Bild: Klaus Schindler)

Long-serving employees were left devastated after the "burger disaster", which happened despite strict quality criteria. In Waidhofen an der Thaya, McDonald's has now invited the "Krone" to inspect the premises to show the effort that goes into ensuring high quality. "If something happens, we apologize," emphasizes the boss.

The picture of and criticism of the "Schimmelburger" that Andre M. from Waldviertel got at McDonald's in Waidhofen an der Thaya caused a stir on the internet. In the battle for her image, franchisee Renate Marschalek, who runs five other branches in addition to the fast-food restaurant in Waidhofen, and McDonald's Austria invited people to a restaurant inspection.

Devastated
"The employees were devastated by the mold," says Marschalek, explaining that they had to fight for several days to motivate people. She herself has been working for McDonald's for 40 years and opened her first branch in Hollabrunn 27 years ago. In Waidhofen - where the "Mäci" opened a year and a half ago - there are many long-serving staff who previously worked in Zwettl, for example. This ranges from the chef, who has been working there for 28 years, to the restaurant manager Robert Jahoda, who has been on board for six years. Many of the experienced Waidhofen team come from the Czech Republic and now have a much shorter commute to work.

Six branches, 300 employees
Marschalek employs 300 people in its six branches, 30 of whom work in Waidhofen. There are 200 McDonald's restaurants throughout Austria, operated by 42 franchisees. As everywhere else, strict conditions are observed there - the burger buns are delivered deep-frozen and immediately taken to the cold room, which is almost minus 20 degrees Celsius.

"The cold chain must be maintained at all times; the buns are only defrosted when we need them," says Quality Manager Veronika Wimmer, emphasizing that unused buns must be disposed of in the organic waste 36 hours after defrosting. As the quantities are well estimated, very little is thrown away.

But how can "moldy burgers" still occur? Unfortunately, this can never be completely ruled out, partly because the bread rolls "sweat a lot" when defrosting. However, the consequences are rarely that bad.